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James R. Rush

2. Kingdoms
Rice is the foundation of Southeast Asian life. The discovery of rice cultivation appears to have occurred in southern China. People living in Southeast Asia were its early adapters. By the second or third millennium BCE, they were growing rice, domesticating pigs, chickens, and cattle, and forming the region’s earliest settled communities in several mainland areas congruent with present-day northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaya. By the 5th century BCE, they had become iron and bronze workers. Their large and elaborate funnel-shaped bronze drums decorated with frogs, birds, and warriors in long boats—often called Dong Son drums from a

Jolyon Mitchell

4. Contesting martyrdom
Up to this point we have seen how stories about martyrdom are used in both Jewish and Christian traditions. It is clear that ‘martyrdom’ is not a stable term with a single meaning. This is also the case within Islamic traditions. New communication technologies have contributed to this instability, as well as to the preservation and circulation of both ancient and more recent stories about martyrdom. Over the last few years martyrdom has gone digital. The digitization of martyrdom is changing the ways martyrs are commemorated, remembered, and interpreted. Audiences now have direct access to countless original

Yujin Nagasawa

4. Is it rational to believe in miracles?
The most crucial question concerning miracles
We have addressed many questions concerning miracles—How can we define a miracle? What types of miracles are reported in religious texts? How do psychologists explain the formation and transmission of belief in miracles? However, we have yet to address the most crucial question—Can we rationally believe in miracles? Let us address this question by scrutinizing existing arguments against belief in miracles.